Saturday Night Live: Season 1
The first season of Saturday Night Live, the weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show on NBC, aired during the 1975–1976 television season. Saturday Night Live premiered on October 11, 1975 and consisted of a total of 24 episodes, the last of which aired on July 31, 1976. In 1974, NBC Tonight Show host Johnny Carson requested that the weekend broadcasts of "Best of Carson" come to an end, so t
Season overview
The first season of Saturday Night Live, the weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show on NBC, aired during the 1975–1976 television season. Saturday Night Live premiered on October 11, 1975 and consisted of a total of 24 episodes, the last of which aired on July 31, 1976.
In 1974, NBC Tonight Show host Johnny Carson requested that the weekend broadcasts of "Best of Carson" come to an end, so that Carson could take two weeknights off and NBC would thus air those repeats on those nights rather than feed them to affiliates for broadcast on either Saturdays or Sundays. Given Carson's undisputed status as the dean of late-night television, NBC heard his request as an ultimatum, fearing he might use the issue as grounds to defect to either ABC or CBS. To fill the gap, the network drew up some ideas and brought in Dick Ebersol – a protégé of legendary ABC Sports president Roone Arledge – to develop a 90-minute late-night variety show. Ebersol's first order of business was hiring a young Canadian producer named Lorne Michaels to be the show-runner.
Episodes
George Carlin with Billy Preston and Janis Ian
Oct 11, 1975 · 66 min
Live from New York, It's... George Carlin! Sketches Include: Wolverines, New Dad Insurance, The Courtroom, Victims of Shark Bite, Jamitol, Triopenin, Jim Henson's Muppets, Bee Hos
Paul Simon with Randy Newman and Phoebe Snow
Oct 18, 1975 · 66 min
Live from New York, It's... Paul Simon! Sketches Include: The Berkeley Collection, Bees, Jim Henson's Muppets, Try-Hard 1-11
Rob Reiner
Oct 25, 1975 · 66 min
Live from New York, it's... Rob Reiner! Sketches Include: National Pancreas Association, Fashion Don'ts, Golden Needles, Dangerous But Inept, Felina Cat Food, Middle American Van
Candice Bergen with Esther Phillips
Nov 8, 1975 · 68 min
Live from New York, It's... Candice Bergen Sketches include: Ambassador Training Institute, CIA Department of Records, Jaws II, Long Distance, Chanel, Feminine Talk, Midnight Prob
Robert Klein with ABBA and Loudon Wainwright III
Nov 15, 1975 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's... Robert Klein Sketches include: Pong, Minute Mystery, Bee Centennial Minute, Greg Allman How's Your Love Life?, Tough Director, Jamitol, Exterminators,
Lily Tomlin
Nov 22, 1975 · 65 min
Live from New York, it's... Lily Tomlin Sketches Include: Beethoven Part 1, Jaws III, Bell-Hop, Edith Ann Skates, Beethoven Part 2, Spud Beer, Patty, Jim Henson's Muppets, Beethov
Richard Pryor with Gil Scott-Heron
Dec 13, 1975 · 67 min
Live From New York, it's... Richard Pryor! Sketches Include: Samurai Hotel, Looks At Books, Line-Up #1, Word Association, Pong, They're Taking Over, Line-Up #2, L-Pill, Jim Henson
Candice Bergen with Martha Reeves and The Stylistics
Dec 20, 1975 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's... Candice Bergen! Sketches include-- Fireside Chat with Gerald Ford, "Mel's Char Palace", "What Gilda Ate", Billy is guilty of murder, Teddy the Elf, "Th
Elliott Gould with Anne Murray
Jan 10, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, it's... Elliott Gould! Sketches include "The Dead String Quartet," "Interior Demolitionists," "Vito Corleone in Therapy," "The Killer Bees," "Birthright", "Gil
Buck Henry with Bill Withers and Toni Basil
Jan 17, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Suicide Prevention, "Samurai Deli", Operation Stumblebum, "Citizen Kane II", King Bee(the Blues Brothers), Auto mechanic t
Peter Cook & Dudley Moore with Neil Sedaka
Jan 24, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- Bomb Squad, Prisoner Auditions, "Don Pardo's Holiday on A Elevator", "Table Talk", "Backstage Banter", Sonny and Cher, Th
Dick Cavett with Jimmy Cliff
Jan 31, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Voodoo on Chevy Chase, Alcohol and Firearms, Lowell Brock of H&R Brock, "Looks at Books", Dick Cavett's School of Hydropla
Peter Boyle with Al Jarreau
Feb 14, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include "The Valentine's Day Massacre," "Samurai Divorce Court," "Jason and Sunshine," "The Corrida." "All Pro Wrestling," "Remembe
Desi Arnaz with Desi Arnaz Jr.
Feb 21, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- Gerald Ford gives a word association, Literary Recital, Very White(Chevy Chase)sings unsoulful songs, "The Failed Pilots
Jill Clayburgh with Leon Redbone
Feb 28, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- No More Falls, "Great Moments in Herstory", White Guilt Relief Fund, Inquisitive Girlfriend, Grable and Lombard, Car Yumm
Anthony Perkins with Betty Carter
Mar 13, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--'SNL is not ad-libbed' says Chevy Chase, A President's View on Marijuana, Dominatrix Cleaning Tips, "Norman Bates School o
Ron Nessen with the Patti Smith Group
Apr 17, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Gerald Ford Sketches include-- "The Dead String Quartet", Super Bass-O-Matic 76, An Oval Office, David Eisenhower is Anti-Nixon, Thomas Jefferson denies
Raquel Welch with Phoebe Snow and John Sebastian
Apr 24, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- "Get to the fall Chevy!", Purina Rat Chow, Joseph Franklin's 10-letter Metric Alphabet, "The Claudine Longet Ski Invitati
Madeline Kahn with Carly Simon
May 8, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, it's Chevy Chase! Sketches are "Ronald Reagan's Jam Session," Not for Ladies Only, Wilderness Comedian, "Slumber Party," Bride of Frankenstein, "Fondue Pots f
Dyan Cannon with Leon & Mary Russell
May 15, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Chevy has to do the fall again, "Hearing Test," "The Adulterer," "Vacationland Adventure", "Minister with Hiccups," "Dyan
Buck Henry with Gordon Lightfoot
May 22, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Emmy winner Chevy tries to get Laraine todo the fall, Samurai Tailor, "Talk Back!", "Dell Stator's Toad Ranch Resturaunt",
Elliott Gould with Leon Redbone and Harlan Collins & Joyce Everson
May 29, 1976 · 67 min
Sketches include "Wax Museum," "Phone Operator Academy," "European Poker Player," "Babs's Uvula," "The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise," "The Bee Honeymooners," "Shirley Tem
Louise Lasser with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Jul 24, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Belushi thinks Chevy has a big head, Louise Lasser locks herself dressing room, General "V.D" Amin, Sven and Inger, John B
Kris Kristofferson with Rita Coolidge
Jul 31, 1976 · 67 min
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Kristofferson signs "Help Me Make it Through The Night", new SNL employer Sherry, Samurai General Practitioner, the Great